Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-11-24
purposes of irrigation. and not as water

Cttui14ci WIN gardens anu VI SAie,i'.o' III
gated from this conduit. The eye, re-
EereJ from the barren, rocky hills that
enclose it, fingers here with deilght;
Some say that here Solomon had located
his gardens and planted trees IN them
Of all kinds of fruit. Some writers al
tribute the construction OF the so-called
Soiomon's pool to Pont1us Pllate, VINO
certainly was engaged II an enterprise 70
convey water TO Jerusalem. IL l am
allowed 10 advance a theory Oh my own,
| should say they We're not constructed
in SolOmon's day, for when oenacherlo
was threatening Jerusalem, Hezeklah,
the king, stopped all the fountains near
the city and damned up or diverted the
waters Of the brook kedrou, IN order tnat
the Assyrian army might perish OF
thirst, which would have been entirely
futile with these immense reservoirs out
few miles away.
Although we had taken an early start,
by the time we left the pool, on which,
perhaps, I have dwelt too long, the
sun was fairly melting US
and the donkeys picked their way around
the boUlders as leisurely as II we we had
been metam0rphised into lnanimate mat
ter. Spurs, had none: my heels were
raw with jogging their sides; 1t requires
an expert to carry an umoreila, Use
whip and hold up a donkey at the same
time. Mrs. S vowed it was the last
time anyone would catch her on the back
of a donkey, and from recent lndlcatlonS
am Of the opinion that she means 10 Keep
her word. When patience had her per-
feet work about exhausted, we at leangth
threaded the steep. narrow, filthy streets
Of Bethlehem and alighted more dead
than alive in front Of the great Monastery,
where the franciscan Monks won eternal
gratitude by the hospitality with which
they entertained us. One or them had
been to Cincinnati, and when tod nm
| was from Kansas he wanted to know IL
I hailed from Emporia. The idea of a
pilgrim hailing from Emporia. l won
dered at his stupidity in supposing that
any other city IN Kansas except the
Peerless Princess of the Plains could
muster up enterprise of the requisite sort
/ to be represented by dusty, sunburned
and thoroughly disguised pilgrim in the
! God-forsaken country known as the
Holy land There, have said it and L
| will stand to it. A man should only
come to this country Of his own accord
to do penance for his sins. Viewed in
! this light. at the time | write, l think L
have fully expiated mine.
! After rest and refreshments we fol-
lowed our dragomen to the Milk Grotto,
an ancient cave converted into chapel.
| Here it was said the virgin concealed
! herself for three days with the infant
/ Jesus from Herod, who about this time
was issuing the edict to Stay all the
babies in Bethlehem land in all the
coasts thereof hoping to spread by this
means net large enough to catch what
/ his CCwardiv nature conceived to be a
rival to his throne. The mill grott0 is
so called and revered by this legend,
which is farther embellished by the story
that the virgin being overfiush with the
DEMONSTRATING fuid permitted drop OF
it to fall on the floor of the cave, which
converted the greyish blue rock into a
white chalky substance. Each pilgrim
is expected to deposit small fee, AND
bear away souvenirs OF the grotto made
into little cakes of its material, which
are said to possess the efficacy of pro-
ducing a copiOus flow of the tactical fluid
when powdered, mixed in water ano
drank. | should perhaps qualify tins
statement so far as TO add that the charm
fails to work except as applied to moth
ers who find themselves ''shOrt. L nave
stored away supply for the exclusive
benefit of Wichita matrons. Lest my
motives be misunderstood, | will place
myself on record by stating that an
not candidate for office.
From here we returned to thu
monastery and descended to another
crotto. of which | wish to treat with al
entire absence of any spirit OF levity o.
expression Of irreverence. for If there i
any spot in the portion OF the Holy lGn(
where NV fortunes heve led me, any ont
place where conviction of genuiness fore
ed itself upon my mind, and destroyed
the illusions of life time, it was t.
stand on the spot and within the yer,
walls where tradition says our Savio
was born.
Perhaps I should have been better in
formed. and not measured things in Pal
esiine bv an American standard, bu
from my earliest recollection | have
labored under the impression that Chris
was born in q common old log stable
know have seen pictures portrayln:
such structures. with the cows and TIM
donkevs looking wild-eyed at the intru
sion OF those who had invaded thei
quarters Reading the Bible narrative
as recounted by Mathew and Luke anC
bringing it to bear on traditions unwrit
ten and uninspifed record, there /
neither anv inconsistency or improbable
ty. so far as | can see. IN the claim tina
this cavern, which far NOR
than sixteen hundred years has been re
rarded and fostered as the identical spo
in which our Savior was born. is Othe
than genuine. Mathew alludeS TO it a
a house and Luke says: They laio
Him in maDger because there was n
room for them in the inn" The cavern
which is about forty feet long, lively
feet wide and ten feet high has doubles
been enlarged to meet the purpose o
serving as a chapel. At one end Is Al
altar where lamps are kept CONSTANT
burning. 4 few feet from this altar
the chapel of the manger not more thar
fxS feet Ia size. II contains on the lef
hand an altar adorned with a painting
rppresenting the alteration OF the Magi
On the right hand is the nlanger Of mar
bic. The genuine manGer St. Helen
carried off 10 Rome. / presume It wa
of stone like some have seen un
earthed in the so-cailed stables of Solo
mon. under the plateau of the temple q
Jerusalem.
Now the question may be asked, wha
has all this got to do with Chris
being born in stable: Simpl,
this: These caverns which are common
in all the hill country Of Judea were util
lied as stables then, as L myself hav
seen them on two occasions used at tn
present time, and the customs Of thes
people have no more changed in this re
spect than they have IL hundred othe
things since long before the event O
Christ birth.